Tài liệu Nghiên cứu hành động về hiệu quả sử dụng tư liệu thực để thúc đẩy đọc mở rộng cho học sinh lớp 11 trường thpt xuân trường, nam định

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ––––––––––––––––––––––– TRAN VAN VY AN ACTION RESEARCH ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS TO PROMOTE EXTENSIVE READING FOR 11TH GRADE STUDENTS AT XUAN TRUONG UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL, NAM DINH PROVINCE (Nghiên cứu hành động về hiệu quả sử dụng tư liệu thực để thúc đẩy đọc mở rộng cho học sinh lớp 11 trường THPT XuânTrường, Nam Định) M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Thai Nguyen, 2019 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ––––––––––––––––––––––– TRAN VAN VY AN ACTION RESEARCH ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS TO PROMOTE EXTENSIVE READING FOR 11TH GRADE STUDENTS AT XUAN TRUONG UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL, NAM DINH PROVINCE (Nghiên cứu hành động về hiệu quả sử dụng tư liệu thực để thúc đẩy đọc mở rộng cho học sinh lớp 11 trường THPT XuânTrường, Nam Định) M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong Thai Nguyen, 2019 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify that the minor thesis entitled “An action research on the effectiveness of using authentic materials to improve 11th grade students’ extensive reading at Xuan Truong Upper Secondary School” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at School of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University, is my own study, and that it has not been submitted for any degree to any other universities or institutions. Where other sources of information have been used, they have been identified and acknowledged. Signature Tran Van Vy Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To complete this study, I am indebted to many people for their thoughtful help. First and foremost, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to my respectable supervisor, Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong for her restless and sympathetic encouragement, and critical feedback, without which my thesis would be far from completion. I would also like to acknowledge a particular debt to Dr. Nguyen Trong Du for his valuable advice and patient guidance though he is not my supervisor. My sincere thanks also go to my dear ex-colleagues at Xuan Truong Upper Secondary School for all their help, supports and encouragement when I encountered difficulties. I wish to acknowledge my thankfulness to classes 11A2 and 11A3 at Xuan Truong Upper Secondary School for their enthusiastic participation in the experiment. Finally, I would like to express my thanks to my friends who were willing to help me during the course. In particular, I find myself indebted to my family especially my wife for their love, care and tolerance during the process of writing this thesis Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn ABSTRACT Extensive reading is believed to develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of vocabulary and structures, and to encourage a liking for reading. Materials for extensive reading are available everywhere but Internet-based materials seem to be the most suitable for high school students because the World Wide Web now is easily accessible with an endless supply of authentic materials in the target language where students can start on their own. The use of authentic materials in extensive reading is appropriate since they relate directly to the real world. Other aspects which prove positive when using authentic materials are that they are highly motivating, giving a sense of achievement when understood and encourage further reading. However, there has been insufficient research to explore the effects of extensive reading that utilizes authentic materials. Thus, this study is conducted, adapting action research approach, to investigate the impact of authentic materials as the main source of extensive reading and students’ attitudes toward these materials. The findings indicate a positive effect of authentic materials or students’ language competence and favorable opinions from students. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY ..................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................... vii PART A. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................1 1. Rationale .................................................................................................................1 2. Aims of the study and research questions ...............................................................2 3. Hypothesis: ..............................................................................................................2 4. Scope of the study ...................................................................................................2 5. Significance of the study .........................................................................................3 6. Method of the study ................................................................................................3 7. Organization of the study ........................................................................................3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT.....................................................................................4 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................................4 1.1. Extensive reading .................................................................................................4 1.1.1. Reading .............................................................................................................4 1.1.2. Extensive reading ..............................................................................................5 1.1.3. The roles of extensive reading in language education ......................................6 1.2. Authentic materials ..............................................................................................7 1.2.1. Definition ..........................................................................................................7 1.2.2. The use of online authentic materials in improving extensive reading comprehension ............................................................................................................8 1.2.3. Advantages and disadvantages of using authentic materials ............................9 1.3. Attitude ...............................................................................................................12 1.3.1. Definition ........................................................................................................12 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn 1.3.2. The effects of attitude in second language learning ........................................13 1.4. Some related studies ...........................................................................................14 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................16 2.1. Research context ................................................................................................16 2.2. Research questions .............................................................................................16 2.3. Research approach .............................................................................................17 2.3.1. An overview of action research ......................................................................17 2.3.2. Rationale for the use of an action research .....................................................18 2.4. Description of the research.................................................................................19 2.4.1. Population .......................................................................................................19 2.4.2. Data collection instrument ..............................................................................20 2.4.3. The action procedures .....................................................................................21 2.4.4. Data collection procedures ..............................................................................24 2.4.5. Data analysis procedure ..................................................................................25 2.5. Summary ............................................................................................................25 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................26 3.1. Initial data...........................................................................................................26 3.2. Research question 1............................................................................................27 3.3. Research question 2............................................................................................29 3.3.1. Students’ attitudes towards authentic materials ..............................................29 3.3.2. Students' suggestions for future program ........................................................32 3.3.3. Conclusion .......................................................................................................33 PART C. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................34 1. Conclusion.............................................................................................................34 2. Implications ...........................................................................................................35 3. Limitations of the study ........................................................................................36 4. Suggestions for further research............................................................................36 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................37 APPENDIX I: PRE-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS ..................................... I APPENDIX II: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS ...............................III APPENDIX III: AN INTERVENTION COURSE ................................................. VII APPENDIX IV: PRETEST AND POSTTEST SCORES ...................................... XX Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ANCOVA: Analysis of Covariance EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESP: English for Special Purposes GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education L2: Second Language SPSS: Statistical Packages for Social Sciences Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Advantages & disadvantages of authentic materials .............................10 Table 2. Range of students’ attitudes to target language .....................................14 Table 3. An overview of an extensive reading program: .....................................23 Table 4. The levels of students' interest in reading lessons, their needs and their attitudes toward reading skills .......................................................26 Table 5. Significant difference between the pretest mean scores of the students taught using traditional method and that of those using authentic materials in the teaching of extensive reading. ......................27 Table 6. Significant difference between the post-test mean scores of the students taught using traditional method and that of those using authentic materials in the teaching of extensive reading. ......................28 Table 7. Significant effect of authentic materials in the teaching of extensive reading....................................................................................................28 Table 8. Students' attitudes towards authentic material program ........................29 Table 9. Students' suggestions for future program ..............................................32 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn PART A. INTRODUCTION This is a study on the influence of authentic materials on learning reading skills. This chapter starts with the rationale of the study. Then the aims, hypothesis, scope, significance and method of the study will be presented. 1. Rationale Reading is an activity that can be considered as a crucial aspect of one’s language ability because this skill helps to develop other language skills and provides knowledge on the target language. However, many students experience difficulties in comprehending the reading texts. These difficulties appear because the students have low motivation and possess limited vocabulary. Students today have become more passive and reluctant in regard to reading, doing no more than what is required. Educators are concerned about students’ disinterest and therefore, are endeavoring to find ways and sources to encourage students to read. Textbooks are widely adopted in classroom teaching but perhaps because textbook materials often break down language to discrete linguistic points, it may be too formulaic for students. Additionally, textbooks are never enough, especially for those who are going to take the 2 in 1 GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams in which English is a compulsory subject. Moreover, time for reading lesson at high school is limited. There are three English lessons every week and in five or six lessons, there is only one for reading which means there is not enough time for reading - the most important language skill. That is the reason why teachers have to find ways to enhance students to read more. That means students have to read extensively. Additionally, most of the course books used in language classrooms are perceived as traditional materials because they serve a pre-planned goal, so texts are simplified and exercises are adapted, which sometimes seems impractical to learners. Therefore, a new concept, “authentic materials” has been established. Most linguists agree that in language teaching, the use of authentic materials is quite useful to the learning process because as Baddock (1981) stated, learners find genuine materials or realia more motivating and interesting since one day they will use their surviving Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn English in the foreign culture. Morton (1999) also claimed that authentic materials make students familiar with “real” English and they are also supposed to motivate students. Nunan (1998) argued that the outside world should be reflected through the materials and this authenticity ought to be related to the source of the materials, student activities and tasks. In other words, these materials should include language and its sociocultural context in which the language is used together. From this suggestion and above initial problems, the author decided to do an action research project on the effectiveness of using authentic materials on the Internet to improve 11th form students’ extensive reading at Xuan Truong Upper Secondary School. 2. Aims of the study and research questions In conducting this study, the researcher expects to discover the effects of using authentic materials in the teaching of extensive reading to 11 graders at Xuan Truong Upper Secondary School. It is hoped to improve students’ extensive reading as well as their language proficiency. In addition, this paper will be carried out to find out students' attitudes towards the use of authentic materials in extensive reading activity. Specifically, two main research questions will be addressed: - To what extent do authentic materials help to improve EFL high school students’ extensive reading ability? - What are the students’ attitudes towards authentic reading materials? 3. Hypothesis: A hypothesis in this study is that using authentic materials will help EFL high school students improve their extensive reading ability and these students will take positive attitudes towards these materials. 4. Scope of the study The study was conducted on 90 volunteer students from classes 11A2 and 11A3 at Xuan Truong Upper Secondary School during the second semester and restricted to the second semester of 2018-2019. The study concentrates on whether authentic materials fit the needs of enhancing 11th form students’ extensive reading skill. As a result, the teachers at Xuan Truong Upper Secondary School are persuaded to adopt this kind of materials in their teaching not only reading but other language skills. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn 5. Significance of the study Once completed, the study will provide an insight into the effects of using authentic materials on EFL high school students’ extensive reading achievement as well as their attitudes towards using these materials. What will be achieved in this research may help teachers consider utilizing authentic materials to improve students' reading comprehension. Moreover, this study will be much beneficial to students who wonder how to develop their reading skills as well as their language proficiency 6. Method of the study This study is conducted as an action research because action research is the best choice for the purpose of improving the current state of affairs within educational context in which the research is carried out. In order to get data, a combination of different instruments, namely pretest and posttest, and questionnaire, is used. The data collected through the questionnaire and the two tests will be analyzed by quantitative method, using an ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance) through SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Science). 7. Organization of the study The study consists of three parts: Part A - Introduction: presents the rationale, aim, scope, significance and method of the study Part B - Development: comprises three chapters: - Chapter 1: Theoretical Background and Literature Review covers the overview of the literature which includes relevant theoretical background and reviews of related studies concerning extensive reading skill and the use authentic materials in language teaching. - Chapter 2: Research Method continues with the research method including participants of the study, the instrumentation, the methods and procedures of data collection and data analysis. - Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion demonstrates the findings accompanied by data analysis and discussion. Part C: Conclusions recapitulates the major findings of the study and represents further recommendations for the implementation of authentic materials. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, a review of literature in theory and practice on authentic materials and the teaching of reading is provided. First, the definition and role of reading, especially extensive reading, in language teaching are introduced. Second, authentic materials and their use in EFL classrooms are presented. Next, the definition and effect of attitude on language learning are discussed. Following this, the studies related to the subject conducted are reviewed. Upon initial research into the literature, the researcher has gained some knowledge about extensive reading and authentic materials: definitions and roles of reading, especially extensive reading, in language teaching; authentic materials and their use in EFL classrooms; and the effects of attitude on language learning. 1.1. Extensive reading 1.1.1. Reading According to Alderson et. al (1987), “The majority of scholars in the field now agree on the nature of reading: Reading is the process of constructing meaning from written texts. It is a complex skill requiring coordination of a number of interrelated sources of information” Alderson (2000) defines reading as “... an enjoyable, intense, private activity from which much pleasure can be derived, and in which one can become totally absorbed”. Reading means different things to different people, for some it is recognizing written words, while for others it is an opportunity to teach pronunciation and practice speaking. However, reading always has a purpose. It is something that we do everyday, it is an integral part of our daily lives, taken very much for granted and generally assumed to be something that everyone can do. The reason for reading depends very much on the purpose for reading. Reading can have three main purposes: for survival, for learning or for pleasure. Reading for survival is considered to be in response to our environment, to find out information and can include street signs, Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn advertising and timetables. It depends much on the day-to-day needs of the readers and often involves an immediate response to a situation. In contrast, reading for learning is considered to be the type of reading done in the classroom and is goal oriented. While reading for pleasure is something that does not have to be done. Therefore, different scholars of different approaches provide different definitions of reading. However, “in spite of the constant shift in focus throughout the history of reading research, it has been generally recognized that reading is a very complicated process involving a variety of factors that interact with one another” (Kim, 2002). Due to this complex nature of reading and the fact that it is one of the most important language skills, most scholars in language methodology agree that there is a need for incorporating multimedia into reading instruction. Learners should be provided with sufficient scaffolding to be able to achieve more effective reading comprehension. 1.1.2. Extensive reading The term “extensive reading” was originally coined by Palmer (1917) to distinguish it from “intensive reading”. The characteristics of extensive reading include the relatively fast reading of a large amount of longer, easy-to-understand material, with the reading done mostly outside the classroom and at each student's own pace and level. There are few, if any, follow-up exercises, because the aim is for overall understanding rather than word-by-word decoding or grammar analysis. And instead of an inflexible curriculum, with extensive reading, the material is generally chose by the students themselves, who can thereby enjoy some small measure of responsibility for decisions affecting their leaning a basic tenet of communicative teaching (Thompson, 1996) Therefore, what does extensive reading entail? Successful extensive reading requires the following (adapted from Maley's list, 2009): 1. Reading often and in a large quantity 2. Reading in a wide variety of topics and genres 3. Reading content that is interesting and compelling. 4. Reading books students themselves select 5. Reading for pleasure and information Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn 6. Reading is its own reward 7. Reading at levels appropriate for the readers. 8. Reading speed is fast, not slow (Berardo, 2006) From all the above characteristics of extensive reading, a conclusion can be drawn that: “Extensive reading is reading of a large quantity of material or long texts, for global or general understanding; with the intention of obtaining pleasure from the text. Further, because reading is individualized, with students choosing the books they want to read, the books are not discussed in class”. (Bramfort et. al, 1991) 1.1.3. The roles of extensive reading in language education Various studies already exist in support of extensive reading. Bell (1998) stated that extensive reading provides substantial linguistic input which is needed for language acquisition and thus helps develop learners’ linguistic competence. Many researchers point out the importance of extensive reading, the positive effects of extensive reading in students’ reading comprehension. They suggest that one of the best ways to help students increase their language proficiency is to encourage them to read extensively. Through experiencing language in context, extensive reading is a very effective way of reinforcing, confirming and deepening knowledge of vocabulary, structures, and of developing an implicit understanding of when and how words are used (Nation, 1997 and Cady, 1997 cited in Mutoh, Bramford and Helgesen, 1998). And motivation is stimulated by combining the pleasure of “a good read” with the satisfaction of accomplishing a meaningful task in the target language. It is also a widely held belief among supporters of extensive reading that, by eliminating followup testing and exhorting students to aim for general understanding rather than detailed comprehension, they gradually learn to read without word-by-word decoding at the sentence level. Carrell (1998) stated that the goal is to turn “learning to read into reading to learn”. Strong (1996) also stated that “extensive reading of literature can encourage students to develop positive attitudes toward reading”. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn Bell (2011) has clearly identified the role of extensive reading in language education as follows: It can provide “comprehensible input”. It can enhance learners’ general language competence. It increases the students’ exposure to the language. It can increase knowledge of vocabulary. It can lead to improvement in writing. It can motivate learners to read. It can consolidate previously learned language. It encourages the exploitation of textual redundancy. The benefits of extensive reading, therefore, extend beyond the acquisition of reading fluency. Krashen (2004) claimed that "Reading is good for you... Reading is the only way, the only way we become good readers, develop a good writing style an adequate vocabulary, advanced grammar, and the only way we become good spellers”. According to Krashen, "what makes it [extensive reading] far more compelling is that extensive reading not only develops reading skill but also benefits a whole range of other language skills, boosts confidence and motivation and improve not as some separate skill”. Davis (1994) also suggested that any classroom would be the poorer for the lack of an intensive reading programme and would be “unable to promote its students’ language development in all aspects as effectively as if such a programme were present”. To sum up, many studies have shown that extensive reading has positive effects not only on students’ reading comprehension skill but also on a variety of language skills and language development. It has been claimed that free voluntary reading or sustained independent reading results in better reading comprehension, writing style vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical development. 1.2. Authentic materials 1.2.1. Definition Authentic materials have been defined as “... real-life texts, not written for pedagogic purposes” (Wallace, 1992). Gilmore (2007) and Morrow (1977) both Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn claimed that authentic materials contain “real language, produced by a real speaker for a real audience and designed to convey a real message of some sort. They are materials that have been produced to fulfill some social purpose in the language community”. (Peacock, 1997), in contrast to non-authentic texts that are especially designed for language learning purposes. Therefore, authentic materials are any texts written by native speakers for native speakers of certain language and will be used by the speakers of the language in communication circumstances outside language classroom. Thus, most everyday objects in target language whether spoken or written such as magazines, newspapers, tourism brochures, advertisements, menus, recipies can be included as authentic materials, but for developing reading, one of the most useful sources is the Internet with large amounts of varied materials being easily accessible. 1.2.2. The use of online authentic materials in improving extensive reading comprehension After a careful review of literature, the researcher finds that the use of authentic material has been strongly debated because of its complexity in vocabulary and structures especially for lower-level learners. However, Gilmore (2007) pointed out that authentic materials have been used for language learning for several decades and have regained their popularity due to the rise of the communicative approach. The goal of the communicative approach is to develop language competence for communication in real life. Textbooks are often written with classroom dialogue practices that are artificial, thus presenting a gap from real life language. In contrast, authentic materials are believed to generate greater interest among teachers, students and even publishers than do traditionally structured materials. Floris (2008) claimed the necessity for incorporating authentic materials in the course design because they are more motivating and engaging, and relevant to students' lives. Other researchers stated that authentic materials provide opportunities for language use in a more relevant and communicative way (Sánchez Pérez, and Gomes, 2010). Huang (2005) pointed out the importance of authentic materials because when at an adequate level, they elevate learners’ sensitivity to and Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn competence in the language. Littlewood (1992) brought attention to several derations in the adoption of authentic materials: learners' needs, their interest language situations and functions students would find useful. Nunan (1992) also suggested giving students their own choice of materials and the incorporation of student - produced materials as another component of authentic texts. The wide variety of authentic materials ranges from literature, CDs, DVDs, news, movies, songs, TV programs, even to brochures and menus but the utilization of authentic materials from online resources is particularly valuable and easily accessible. Internet technology is a “medium of global communication and a source of limitless authentic materials” (Warschauer, 1996). Whereas newspapers and any other printed materials date very quickly, the Internet is continuously updated, more visually stimulating as well as being interactive, therefore promoting a more active approach to reading rather than a passive one. From a more practical point of view, the Internet is a modern day reality, most students use it and for teachers there is to endless amount of many different types of materials. From an even more economical viewpoint, looking for materials costs almost nothing, only time, by having unlimited access in the work place. Additionally, online authentic to interact with the real language and content rather the form. Learners feel that they are learning a target language as it is used outside the classroom. 1.2.3. Advantages and disadvantages of using authentic materials While since the late 1970’s authentic materials have been regarded as being superior to simplified textbook materials, there have still been some arguments about their use and effectiveness. On one hand, there are some advantages of utilizing authentic materials. They are: original, interesting, motivating and useful (Peacock, 1997). The term original relates to authenticity. Authenticity means that nothing of the original text is changed and also that its presentation and layout are retained (Grellet, 1996). Authentic materials are often regarded as more interesting than the textbook materials because they can be up to date and related to everyday issues and activities. The use of authentic materials can motivate the students because there are three layers of learning which are: language learning (the structure and vocabulary), cultural insight, and Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn practical application (Speller, 2002). Authentic materials are useful because they help students to break the gap between the language classroom and the real life situation. They introduce students to the culture that surrounds them and provide them the opportunities to see where different grammatical structures and types of discourse are used. Horwitz (2008), stated that when there is an aim of intensive reading both authentic and constructed materials are advised to be used while for extensive reading, authentic materials are preferred. Along with the advantages, the use of authentic materials also brings some alone disadvantages. The grammar and vocabulary in authentic materials may be too difficult for foreign language learners because authentic materials are used for communicating and informing in the society, thus they might use some abbreviations, slangs or informal words. Besides, the content of the text is sometimes not appropriate for the students, Berardo (2006) gave a table of advantages and disadvantages of authentic materials as follows: Table 1. Advantages & disadvantages of authentic materials Authentic materials Advantages Disadvantages - “Real” language exposure with language change/variation being reflected. - Students are informed about what is happening in the world. - Textbooks tend not to include incidental/improper English and become outdated very quickly. - The same piece of material can be used for different tasks. - Ideal for teaching/practicing mini-skillsskimming/scanning. - Contain a wide variety of text types, language styles not easily found in conventional teaching materials - Encourage reading for pleasure, likely to contain topics of interest. - Often too cultural based, difficult to understand outside the language community. - Vocabulary might not be relevant not to include to the student's immediate needs. - Too many structures are mixed so lower levels have problems decoding the texts. - Special preparation is necessary, can be time consuming. - Can become outdated easily, e.g. news stories, articles. (Berardo, 2006) Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn In order to avoid these disadvantages, the teacher should be selective in choosing the materials before delivering them to the students. Teachers should consider the suitability and the readability of the text. In addition, in teaching and learning process, the teacher should guide the students in understanding the text and also in finding the difficult words. Berardo (2006) suggests teachers consider 4 important factors in choosing authentic reading materials: Suitability of content: Does the text interest the student? Is it relevant to the student's needs? Does it represent the type of material that the student will use outside the classroom? Exploitability: Can the text be exploited for teaching purpose? For what purpose should the text be exploited? What skills/strategies can be developed by exploiting the text? Readability: Is the text too easy/difficult for the student? Is it structurally too demanding/complex? How much vocabulary does it contain? Presentation: Does it “look” authentic? Is it “attractive”? Does it grab the student's attention? Does it make him want to read more? All these studies and research on the use of authentic materials indicate that the use of authentic materials in language teaching has generally been effective. Nevertheless, there are some limitations and drawbacks in employing them with EFL learners. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.tnu.edu.vn